Reading Lessons
by Objective Mistress
Summary: Kai asks Mako to teach him to read. Kainora.


**Rating: **K

**Word Count:** ~1900

**Summary:** Kai asks Mako to teach him to read. Kainora.

**Author Note:** I was NOT going to write Kainora. This is Kwongs' fault.

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"Isn't this great!" Jinora grinned, holding an ancient airbending scroll up. "This describes the lost form I was talking about!"

Kai smiled at her excitement and placed a hand on her shoulder. "That's great!"

"Here," she holds it up in front of him so the text faces him. "Why don't you give it a shot?"

Usually form scrolls are illustrated. The two-dimensional sketches always gave him a good enough idea of the form to muddle through the motions. But instead of his eyes meeting neatly created drawings, he saw a wall of characters. The brush strokes looked only like random lines drawn at the random discretion of the creator.

Orphans don't learn how to read. Of course he knew the symbols for "exit" and things that were simple and occurred often, but without formal education reading wasn't something he ever learned to do. It didn't matter too much to him anyway; he got by just fine without being able to peruse a newspaper or write letters (not that he had anyone to write to anyway).

"I um…" Kai backpedaled, scratching his neck nervously. "Maybe later."

"But you always like trying out the new forms," she looked down at her feet, crestfallen at his less than enthusiastic reaction.

"I'm going to go get some lychee juice," he knew it was a flimsy excuse. "Do you want me to bring you some?"

"No, it's fine," she dropped back down to her cushion. "I'll see you later."

Kai slipped inside quickly, grateful to escape the awkward situation. The first time Jinora called him over too look at a book over her shoulder, just gave her a smile and nod. After all, what was he supposed to say? That the markings on the page meant absolutely nothing to him? That he wasn't able to read more than a street sign or two? What would Jinora, the girl who practically lived with her face in a book, think of him? It was bad enough that he was a known thief, but a kid who can't even read? It was pathetic and he knew it.

Somehow since the beginning of his residence he had managed to avoid the scholarly parts of airbending training. Heck, Korra even helped him slip away sometimes citing her own distaste for the non-physical parts of airbending. But despite his efforts, the scrolls and scripts of knowledge were becoming harder to escape from.

Words on pages just seemed to be such a huge part of Jinora's life. Personally, Kai didn't see the appeal. How could unchanging marks on paper possibly be so captivating? But if she liked reading, it couldn't possibly be that bad.

The trick was going to be figuring out how to learn. He _could_ ask Jinora. But the embarrassment that he didn't know how to read in the first place kept his feet firmly rooted to the ground every time he thought to approach her on the subject. And if Tenzin taught reading like he taught meditation…well Kai would rather not get a double dosage of that if he could avoid it.

Kai headed back to the boy's dormitory, his eyes trained on his feet the whole way lost in thought.

"Hey watch it!" Mako sidestepped the airbender.

"You watch it!" Kai spun around, arms crossed. His eyes fell to the leather-bound book clutched under the firebender's arm.

Mako narrowed his eyes and quirked an eyebrow at the entranced airbender. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh yeah! Of course! Everything is just great and stuff!" He forced an impetuous smile.

"Alright…" Mako continued on his way to his room.

Mako. The guy certainly seemed like he had it out for him since the moment they met. While Kai knew he didn't exactly make the best impression on him in the beginning, what with stealing his wallet and all, the firebender watched him closely. The gaze was that of a skeptic; Mako was surely not convinced yet that Kai had put his days of stealing behind him. After all, Tenzin did say that Air Nomads were supposed to be without earthly possessions.

But he knew how to read. And if he asked, he probably would keep their arrangement between them. This of course all assumed that he said yes in the first place.

Kai walked slowly down the hall towards Mako's room. He knew that the firebender was in there; the walls on Air Temple Island were literally paper-thin. He took a deep breath and knocked on the wooden frame of the sliding door.

After the sound of footsteps on the wooden floor, the door slid open. A look of disappointment crossed Mako's face as if he hoped that Kai was someone else.

"Can I come in?" Kai had to look up to meet the firebender's eyes.

Mako nodded and stepped to the side. He closed the door as soon as the teenager crossed the threshold. "Do you need something?" He sat down in the chair beside the bed.

Now wasn't the time to be scared. It wasn't the time to stumble over his words and cower. "How did you learn to read?" Kai pointed to the book.

The firebender ran his hand over the weathered binding. "I learned the basics from my parents…" his lips pressed into a firm line, "and I taught myself the rest."

"Oh wow…" Kai averted his gaze.

"You don't know how to read," his voice was matter-of-fact.

The airbender's shoulders slumped. How did he know? "No I don't. But I want to."

"Why?"

The question was absolutely straightforward and genuine. Color rose in Kai's cheeks; he could only think how stupid it was that he just wanted to learn to read for a girl. But she wasn't just any girl; she was Jinora. There was something about Mako's gaze that demanded honesty.

"Because Jinora loves reading and I can't even get through one of Meelo's picture books!" He kicked at the ground and sent a small burst of air upwards, knocking back Mako and his chair down with it.

Mako yelled out in surprise as his seat tipped back and he landed with an audible thump on his back.

"I'm so sorry I didn't mean to now you'll never—"

"Kai!" The firebender cut him off. He rolled on to his side and got to his feet, brushing his jacket off as he stood. "I'll teach you how to read."

"Y-You will?"

"I'm not going to take any slacking off. You'll meet me here every morning at six for your lesson."

"Six?" Kai groaned.

"You meditate at seven and I know you don't want it in the evening." Mako turned around to set the chair right side up. "I know you don't want Jinora to know."

The more he got to know Mako, the more he could see he seemed to understand. Somehow he caught on to his act at their first meeting. He knew every play out of his book. It must be some sort of cop thing he picked up while on the force. Who knows how many street rats he had busted. Yet somehow, he understood the embarrassment of being unable to understand something as fundamental as being able to decipher sentences on a page.

"We start tomorrow."

Kai nodded, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," Mako pulled the book from the table into his lap and flicked the nearby lamp on. "I haven't taught you anything yet. Close the door on your way out," he opened the book and didn't look back up.

Six o'clock came far too quickly for Kai's taste the next morning. He groggily tugged at his robes until his limbs stuck out all of the right holes in his red and yellow robes. He tiptoed down the hall, careful not to wake Meelo, Bolin, or any other person in the boy's dormitory with a big mouth. The last thing he wanted was for Jinora to find out second-hand. Ideally, he would learn quickly enough that she wouldn't ever notice he couldn't read in the first place.

Mako worked with him for an hour straight and didn't allow him to slack off. Kai could have sworn his brain was throbbing within his skull from exertion. Every character the firebender traced or pointed out in the book he spoke, slowly associating each character with the words and concepts he could speak and think about with ease. It was like stuffing trash into an already full trashcan; Mako practically had to shove the last ten minutes of material down his throat.

Eventually it became routine. He got used to the hour of sleep he lost every day for lessons, and characters on the page that were once foreign markings slowly became recognizable shapes and figures. It was hard, but it just started to make sense. The character for "person" looked like one if he squinted, same for fire and tree. It seemed like an entire world was opening to him; the door was cracked and he could see the light and promise peeking out from inside.

"Hey, Kai!" Jinora called out to him. She balanced expertly on one of the poles in the meditation garden.

He smiled and walked over. There was something entrancing and captivating about watching her. Her airbending and spirituality seemed to be as easy as breathing to her. Sometimes when he was supposed to be meditating, he would open his eyes and just watch her. Jinora was a very special girl.

"I'm trying one of the new airbending forms," she looked down at him, her balance unwavering. "Can you tell me what the next step is?"

Kai stooped down and looked at the scroll on the ground in front of her. His heart rate spiked as he put his finger on the scroll to trace the characters from right to left. There were a few characters he didn't know. Mako told him that there were thousands and that it was impossible to learn them all. But the common airbending terms that they had focused on a week or two earlier stood out to him on the page.

"I think it wants you to move your left hand behind your back?" Nervousness crept into his voice.

"You _think_?" Jinora jumped to the ground, softening her landing with a cushion of air. "It's right on the scroll."

This is exactly what he had been afraid of. "I-I know, I'm trying to see what it says but I—"

Realization washed over her face. "You can't—"

"I can!" Kai grabbed her hands. "I've been learning and stuff…"

She shook her head, "I'm so sorry. It never occurred to me that you couldn't read. I mean," she blushed, "I guess everyone I know can read and I never thought…" Jinora squeezed his hands in hers, "Who's teaching you?"

"Mako."

"Why didn't you ask me?"

"Well I…" it was his turn to blush, "…I've been really embarrassed about this whole thing because you love reading and you love books and I really like you so—"

He froze when she placed a kiss on his cheek. "How about we go sit down inside and learn the characters you don't know so we can lean this airbending form?"

He was wrong to hide the truth from Jinora. Her empathy and understanding truly knew no boundaries. Kai hoped he would be there to see her grow; she had so much to offer the world.

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**Author Note:** I hope I got Kainora right!


End file.
